


A real life superhero

by lxncekogane



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: F/M, Gen, Police AU, loosely based off Brooklyn 99
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-24
Updated: 2016-12-24
Packaged: 2018-09-11 19:13:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9004633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lxncekogane/pseuds/lxncekogane
Summary: Cana cackles loudly, 'The sexual tension between you two is insane,' 'What? No' Natsu splutters 'That's hatred and annoyance, we hate each other' 'Sure,' Cana snorts 'Cause it's not like you actively seek her out and stare at her when she's not looking,' 'I do not do that Cana' Natsu hisses 'I don't! Are you listening to me?'
This is a gift for thegecko99 on tumblr! Give them a follow :)





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, this is a christmas gift for thegecko99 on tumblr!  
> This is my first time writing NaLu so please bear with me and let me know of any changes I can make!

When Natsu is 5 he dreams of being a superhero, zooming through the sky and shooting fire from his fists, beating the bad guys and getting the girls. Unfortunately his school is less receptive to that idea, and he ends up being suspended for setting fire to a small pile of tissue paper when he is 6 (‘But Daaaaaad, I put it out with my water bottle!’). One of his kinder teachers suggests being a firefighter, something that Natsu embraces whole-heartedly. Some might say he is a little too enthusiastic, as in general society wearing a red plastic helmet to school everyday until you are 11 tends to be frowned upon, but Natsu carries on regardless. At the age of 10 Natsu’s most prized possession is his signed Magnolia Fire Department T-shirt. When he is 11 and ¾ (‘Nearly 12 Dad! Can I have a cake shaped like fire?!’) and the scent of smoke is choking his throat, the T-shirt is the only thing he can see clearly as the fire twists and warps it into ash. On Natsu’s 12th birthday he is given a collection of Captain America comics by his new foster parents who don’t really get him, but are trying their very hardest. Natsu decides to give up on superheroes, real or not, when he is 14 and moved back into an orphanage. 

One night when he is 17 and living on the streets having run away from the latest set of foster parents, Natsu finds himself huddled in a doorway, freezing cold and with no money whatsoever. The wet stone beneath his legs bleeds damp into his jeans and Natsu feels grimy all over. His stomach growls; the last thing he had to eat was a fluffy toffee that he found in the pocket of his leather jacket. He presses his face down deeper into his scarf, squeezing his eyes shut to try and block out the cold. It’s too much. He’s never gone this long without food before and he knows that there is a grocery store on the corner of the block. Perhaps he could get away with sneaking some granola bars into his pockets? His body has already moving against his will, heavy feet carrying him closer and closer to the bright lights of the store. A faded sign light up with tiny lights reads ‘Sherry’s Groceries’. Natsu pushes open the door, heart hammering and half expecting a full SWAT team waiting to arrest him inside; instead there is just a bored looking teenager at the counter and a man looking at magazines. 

He walks as casually as he can over to the aisle labelled ‘Confectionary’ and stuffs a few bars of brightly wrapped chocolate into his pockets, keeping an alert eye on his surroundings. On the next aisle he finds trail mix and granola bars which he eagerly stashes away. Just as he is reaching for an energy bar someone grabs his wrist and he turns, eyes wide with fear, to see the man who was looking at the magazines staring at him with dark eyes.   
‘Empty your pockets kid,’ the man says, his voice low. Natsu obliges, pulling granola bars out of his pockets and placing them onto the man’s waiting hand. When he is done the man grabs his wrist and walks up to the counter with him. Natsu watches open mouthed as this complete stranger hands over his items to the cashier, along with what looks like a pervy magazine and pays for them all. Still gripping Natsu’s wrist tightly the man walks out of the store and doesn’t stop until he reaches a bench.   
‘Sit.’ His voice is commanding, and although Natsu’s every instinct is screaming for him to run away, he is cold and tired so he simply plops down onto the seat. The man sits down next to him and opens up the grocery bag then tips the items that Natsu tried to steal onto his lap.   
‘Th-thank you,’ Natsu stutters, the man smiles thinly at him then pulls something shiny out of his pocket and holds it up so Natsu can see. It’s a Magnolia City Police badge. Natsu shrinks away from it as though it could burn him.

‘My name is Gildarts Clive and I am Magnolia’s number one detective,’ there’s something prideful in his tone that reminds Natsu of a distant memory he can’t quite put his finger on.   
‘Are you going to arrest me?’ Natsu asks in a low voice, his hands bunching up the fabric of his scarf. Gildarts gives him a long look.   
‘No,’ he says at last, ‘because you’re some run away kid who was hungry.’   
Natsu’s mouth thins and his hands clench into fists.   
‘Thank you, but I don’t need your charity. You can take back the stuff, sorry for trying to steal.’ His voice is soft but there is a steely undercurrent of anger. Gildarts sighs and pulls out a packet of cigarettes.   
‘It’s not charity, it’s kindness. Go on, eat, I know you’re hungry.’   
Natsu shifts in his seat, fighting an internal battle but his stomach wins with a long groan of hunger. He rips the wrapping off a granola bar and almost inhales it, beside him Gildarts is silent as Natsu devours the food. It’s only when Natsu is finished that he speaks.   
‘You’re Natsu Dragneel, right?’   
Everything inside Natsu seems to freeze and he braces himself to run, but Gildarts lays a firm hand on his shoulder.   
‘I’ve read your file, everyone thinks you’re another one of those kidnapping victims but I had a hunch you were just a lonely kid who wanted to escape.’   
Natsu feels his breathing speed up, his mind is running through things to do, from claims that he isn’t Natsu Dragneel to just running as fast as he can. However, all that comes out is just a whisper:  
‘Please don’t take me back,’   
Gildarts takes a long draw from his cigarette then leans back and exhales, a long plume of smoke that looks orange against the street lights. Like fire. Natsu tenses up as the smell of smoke invades his nostrils. Gildarts gives him a concerned look then crushes the cigarette against the arm of the bench hurriedly.  
‘Shit, sorry kid I forgot,’   
‘S’alright,’ Natsu mutters, slumping against the bench and burrowing his nose into his scarf, too busy trying to calm himself down to be freaked out about the fact that Gildarts has read his file thoroughly enough to know about his fear of fire.   
‘Look, I know you hate it with these foster parents, but just stick it out until you can go to college or uni,’ Gildarts’ voice is soft and full of understanding in a way that is far to paternal for Natsu to feel comfortable.   
‘I can’t,’ he spits out, ‘I’m too stupid, my grades are shit.’   
‘Grades don’t measure intelligence,’ Gildarts says instantly as if on auto-pilot, then turns to stare Natsu in the eyes, looking thoughtful.   
‘The police academy doesn’t care about grades,’ he says carefully. Natsu scoffs.  
‘As if they would want someone like me who’s been suspended multiple times,’  
‘Well they let me in,’ Gildarts says, holding his hands out in a placating gesture.   
‘Why do you care so much,’ Natsu asks suspiciously.  
‘Look kid,’ Gildarts says, an edge of frustration creeping into his voice, ‘I don’t want to see another bright kid wind up on the streets because the system failed them. I’m offering you a chance.’   
‘Sure.’ Natsu says sarcastically, Gildarts rakes a hand through his light brown hair,   
‘I also used to be friends with your dad, Igneel, we used to hang out together at the Fire Dragon’s bar, but you probably don’t remember me,’   
‘Oh!’ Natsu’s memory produces an image of a much younger looking Gildarts at a birthday party, ‘I do remember you, you gave me that helmet,’  
Gildarts beams, ‘That was me,’  
Something inside Natsu ignites and he finds himself smiling,   
‘Do you really think I could do it, be a detective like you?’ He asks, Gildarts grins at him,   
‘I do, I’ll even give you a letter of recommendation,’  
‘But how can you do that when you don’t even know me?’ Natsu says skeptically.  
‘Well then, you can come over to my place after school some days if you would like, you could help me out on some cases, but only if you want to,’ Gildarts says hurriedly. Natsu sits up straighter,   
‘Really?’  
‘Absolutely kid, now c’mon let’s go back to the station and let your foster parents know that you’re okay.’

Two years later Natsu finds himself clutching a sealed envelope and racing up the stairs to Gildarts’ apartment. They sit at the table together, the envelope lying threateningly on the wooden surface.   
‘Go on then Natsu,‘ Gildarts urges, tapping on the tabletop nervously. Natsu picks up the envelope and rips it open, revealing the letter it contains.   
‘Mr Dragneel,’ he reads out loud, ‘We regret to inform you that- oh,’ his face drops and he stalks away from the table. Gildarts leaps to his feet and follows him,   
‘Oh man, I’m so sorry kid,’  
Natsu covers his mouth with one hand and Gildarts pulls him in for a gentle hug. Natsu squeezes his eyes shut, trying to prevent giggles from spilling out of his mouth. He fails. Miserably.   
‘Oh, Natsu don’t cry,’ Gildarts croons, ‘wait, you aren’t crying,’   
Gildarts snatches the letter from the teenager’s grasp,   
‘We are delighted to offer you a place at Fiore police academy,’ he reads aloud, ‘Natsu you little shit!’   
Natsu whoops and jumps up and down, Gildarts hugs him again, this time for a completely different reason.   
‘I’m pissed that you tried to prank me but I’m hella proud of you kid,’ he says fondly,   
‘Thanks Gildarts,’ Natsu whispers, Gildarts pulls away and ruffles his hair,   
‘You’re dad would be so proud of you, you know that right?’  
‘I know,’ Natsu says softly.

Police Academy is brilliant. Here no one is judging Natsu on his grades, and he can take things seriously without being sneered at. He throws himself into every activity, every drill, every mission and he loves every second of it. Even when he is being woken up at 4 in the morning to do 1000 pushups or when he’s studying late at night trying to memorise different police codes, Natsu is happy. He emails Gildarts updates every week and receives long emails about the happenings in Magnolia in return. 

Flash forward a year and Natsu is collecting his certificate whilst Gildarts is crying and whooping in the crowd. Natsu returns to Magnolia and joins the force there, starting out as a beat cop where he meets Gray Fullbuster. Their first encounter ends with Gray stapling Natsu’s scarf to the table and Natsu throwing a paperweight at Gray’s face. Their rivalry is violent and relentless, both desperate to prove to the Captain that they’re worthy of the promotion to detective. Natsu’s working hours are filled with pranks and attempted sabotages (much the chagrin of the captain). 

‘I have had it with you two fighting all the time!’ she shouts one afternoon after Natsu poured PVA glue over Gray’s head.   
‘From now on you’re doing the night patrols!’   
Natsu groans and complains loudly that he doesn’t want to work with someone that might randomly strip.  
‘That was one time Dragneel! And it was because you put itching powder in my uniform!’ Gray barks.   
But captain Kagura is not to be messed with so Natsu and Gray end up sat in a car watching an abandoned warehouse and eating hotdogs every night. The first few nights are filled with constant channel changing on the radio and an accidental stink bomb that forces them out of the car. After a week they move into a grudging silence, only broken by the odd rude remark. 

‘Is it impossible for you to eat with your mouth closed like a normal human being?’ Gray asks grumpily from his place in the passenger’s seat, Natsu proceeds to chomp away at his food with his mouth wide open trying to make as much noise as humanly possible. Gray shoves him and he almost chokes.   
‘Dude,’ Natsu groans ‘Chill,’  
They sit in silence for a moment, listening to the cars zooming past before Gray speaks.   
‘Why do you want to be a detective so bad?’  
This catches Natsu by surprise, Gray never normally tries to make meaningful conversation, usually he prefers to stick to sarky comments and terrible puns.   
‘There’s this guy I know,’ Natsu says slowly, not really sure why he’s telling Gray this, ‘He was one of my dad’s friends, and he’s a sergeant now but when I was 17 he found me after I ran away from my foster parents and told me that he thought I could do it,’ Natsu pauses and awkwardly runs his hand through his mop of pink hair, ‘I guess no one had really believed in me before, since my dad y’know,’ he trails off but Gray nods.   
‘Yeah, I getcha,’ he says quietly.  
‘What about you then?’ Natsu asks brightly shifting in his seat and revving up the engine to drive to the next spot. Gray is silent for the drive, and when Natsu pulls into a parking spot he glances over to him, trying to glean what the other man is thinking from his expression, but Gray is silhouetted against the road lights, outlined in an icy blue glare. 

The silence stretches out before them like an untravelled road and Natsu is itching to blast some Taylor Swift or something- just to annoy Gray; but something stills his hand. After what seems like years Gray tips his head back,   
‘This guy, calls himself Deliora, murdered my mom and my sister,’ his voice is low and rough but it jolts Natsu into paralysis. Everyone has heard of Deliora, the boss of a massive gang who had ties to pretty much every crime that ever happened in the city- until he had vanished six years ago.   
‘He was beating the crap out of some guy and my mom intervened, he backed off because she knocked his two cronies out and had already called the cops,’ Gray continues still in that same low voice,   
‘Then one day me and my brother Lyon came home from school to find mom and Ultear gone. Ul had been sick that day so mom was taking care of her. We went to the neighbors and they called the cops, but there wasn’t much that they could do. Then,’ he took in a long shuddering breath, ‘the next morning Lyon and I went back to the apartment to get our school stuff, ‘cause the neighbor let us stay the night with her, and we found them lying on the floor completely frozen,’  
‘Frozen?’ Natsu echoes, Gray nods.

‘He’s recently resurfaced, Deliora I mean,’   
‘What?’ Natsu turns to Gray, ‘How do you know?’  
Gray’s smirk is just visible in the low light, ‘I have contacts in the underground network.’  
Natsu leans back in his seat, thinking,   
‘I’ll help you,’ he says decisively   
‘What?’ Gray asks, confused.  
‘I’ll help you catch Deliora,’ Natsu says, dead serious.  
‘Thank you Natsu,’ Gray says quietly but sincerely. 

From that night onwards Gray and Natsu are still rivals, but they are also partners, so when they are both promoted and moved into Captain Dreyar’s squad they smile and congratulate each other genuinely. 

Natsu’s new squad is nothing like how he imagined a squad would be. He’s been working with them for two years now and it’s been one year since Gildarts was moved to Crocus to be a super important person in the police. Natsu and Gray are still working together but are no longer partners, Gray’s new partner is a woman named Juvia who spent a year undercover in a mafia group and is still recovering, but seems to have attached herself to Gray like a starfish, Gray doesn’t seem to mind and Natsu has often spotted him blushing in Juvia’s presence. (There is a betting pool within the squad on when they’re going to get together, there’s about 10,000 jewel in there at the moment, Natsu’s put his money on them banging during a stakeout).

The sergeant is an intimidating woman named Erza Scarlet who makes Natsu pee his pants a little every time she shouts, but underneath it all she is kind and a little goofy but still a damn good cop. She likes to stride around the office pretending to be her suspects so that she can really ‘get into their heads’ which always makes Natsu laugh.  
The captain of the whole precinct is Laxus Dreyar, a tall muscled man with a scar over one eye that people say is from a fight he got into with a mafia boss (Natsu is a teensy bit jealous of Laxus’ cool scar and kind of hopes to get one himself). Laxus is the first openly gay Captain in Magnolia history so he is extremely tough, (Natsu has met his husband, a law professor named Freed and honestly can’t understand how this intelligent, green haired man can turn Laxus into a blushing mess after 3 years of marriage).

Laxus’ assistant is a woman named Cana Alberona who knows everything there is to know about everyone and runs all the betting pools whilst managing to take vodka with every coffee and still get shit done. She is prone to sitting on top of her desk and trying to get people to let her read their fortunes whilst brandishing a pack of tarot cards. She is also able to win every game of poker that she plays, something that Natsu finds incredibly infuriating. 

Finally, there is Lucy Heartfilia, the golden girl cop who aced the academy and was forwarded straight to detective status. She’s Natsu’s sworn rival and also his partner, (something Natsu questions everyday). Lucy is almost the exact opposite of Natsu, she is organised, professional, wears smart clothing (and enjoys it?? Natsu doesn’t get it, he’d much prefer to be in jeans and a t-shirt), and she likes paperwork. As in, enjoys going through and filling in all the annoying little boxes and signing on all the dotted lines. The only thing that Natsu and Lucy have in common is that they are both extremely good cops. 

‘Alright people, no need to fear, your finest detective is here,’ Natsu calls as he waltzes into the room ten minutes late and holding a coffee in one hand. He’s wearing a leather jacket over his button up shirt and there isn’t a tie in sight. Lucy, as usual, is already sat in her desk opposite Natsu’s tapping away at her computer.   
‘Natsu! You’re late, again!’ Erza’s voice rings out across the room and Natsu cringes,   
‘Only five minutes!’ He calls back, scurrying to his desk.   
‘Ten actually,’ Lucy looks up from her screen, mischief sparkling in her eyes, ‘which is nearly how far behind me you’ll be soon when I crack this case.’

Natsu grinds his teeth and looks up at the scoreboard, him and Lucy have a bet going about who’s the better cop and can therefore make the most arrests. If Natsu wins then Lucy has to wear whatever he tells her to for an entire week (Natsu is already building up his collection of unfashionable, baggy items of clothing and has ordered a t-shirt that says ‘I <3 Natsu Dragneel’ on it). If Lucy wins then Natsu has to go shopping with her and carry all her stuff. Currently the scores are at Natsu:45 Lucy:52. 

‘Nah Heartfilia, I’m just letting you think you’re ahead to make the loss even worse, I hope you’re looking forward to wearing orange turtlenecks all week,’ Natsu says in a sing-song voice designed to annoy Lucy. It works.   
‘Don’t call me Heartfilia,’ she snaps, ‘and don’t even think about me in those fashion catastrophes, I’ll show you what real fashion looks like when we spend hours together in one of those little pink boutiques you hate so much,’ she finishes sweetly. Natsu scowls at her and picks up a file.   
‘Whatever you say Heartfilia,’  
‘Don’t call me that!’ 

Natsu spends his lunch break watching Gray watch an unassuming Juvia with such a bashful adoration that it nearly puts him off his spicy chicken wrap. Nearly.   
‘How much is on them now?’ Natsu asks an equally disgusted Cana who is sitting beside him.   
‘12,486 jewels,’ she replies, not looking up from twitter and taking a swig from a bottle of beer. (Erza keeps trying to stop Cana drinking at work but Cana has hidden alcohol around the whole precinct, once Natsu went to the toilet and noticed that a tile was loose and lifted it up to discover a whole bottle of tequila sitting down there).   
‘I wonder what would happen if they found out about the whole bet thing,’ he muses aloud,  
‘Ugh, Gray would probably go back to being all standoffish and rude to her out of embarrassment,’ Cana replies, ‘but I’m more worried about Lucy finding out about the one between you and her.’  
‘Yeah,’ Natsu says nodding slightly then chokes on his food, ‘wait what?’   
Cana cackles loudly,   
‘I started one on her first day, the sexual tension between you is insane,’   
‘What? No!’ Natsu splutters ‘That’s hatred and annoyance, we hate each other!’  
‘Sure,’ Cana snorts ‘‘Cause it’s not like you actively seek her out and stare at her when she’s not looking,’  
‘I do not do that Cana!’ Natsu hisses ‘I don’t! Are you listening to me?’  
But Cana has already sauntered away, leaving Natsu by himself in the break room with a half eaten wrap. 

Natsu spends the rest of the day trying very hard to not think about Lucy, because he does not like her in any way. Well maybe as a sort of friend, but that is it, Cana is wrong about this one. 

Lucy keeps trying to rile him with sarcastic remarks then looking slightly crestfallen when Natsu doesn’t rise to them. In these moments Natsu looks across the room to where Cana is sitting smirking with her feet on the desk and live tweeting the whole ordeal. 

It’s only the next day when Natsu walks into the briefing room to see Lucy with her hair down around her shoulders, sat on a table laughing with Juvia that his stomach does a funny little roll and he stops and just thinks ‘well fuck’.   
He has a crush on Lucy. 

‘Okay, let’s get this thing started,’ Laxus says, his deep voice booming around the room. As if in a stupor he slides into a seat next to Gray who greets him with a grunt. Natsu is too busy dealing with his new revelation to even grunt back.  
‘We have a lead on the Deliora case,’ Laxus begins, Gray sits bolt upright as if he’s been electrocuted.   
‘Someone has been using empty warehouses to leave dead bodies. They’ve all been completely frozen solid,’   
Natsu grips Gray’s arm tightly, knowing how hard this must be for him. Gray doesn’t respond and his face is set like stone, or as though he has been frozen too.   
Laxus runs through the rest of the information but Natsu isn’t really listening, he’s far too excited and nervous. He only fully tunes in at the end when Laxus tells them who gets to work it.   
‘So I’m assigning this case to Natsu and Lucy but Juvia and Erza shall be assisting.’ 

‘What?’ Gray stands up, panic filling his features, Laxus calmly stares him down.   
‘You’re too close to this one Gray, I can’t let you work it,’   
Gray looks horrified and for an awful moment Natsu thinks that he’s going to start crying.   
‘I need to work this case, please, you don’t understand,’ Gray’s voice cracks and his voice is horribly pleading. Natsu squirms in his seat, the prospect of Gray showing any emotion is weird, let alone him crying. Across the room Juvia looks murderous,   
‘I believe that Gray should work this case,’ she says firmly, Laxus looks astonished, Juvia is always very quiet and polite, preferring not to voice her own opinions.   
‘Juvia it’s none of your business whether Gray is on this case or not,’ he says eventually and Juvia blushes a bright crimson but she stands her ground.   
‘J-Juvia knows that she cannot order Laxus around, but she is Gray’s friend so it is very much her business,’ she takes a deep breath, ‘I believe that it would be best for Gray if he could work the case,’   
Gray shoots her a sad little smile that says a million words and she gives him a hesitant smile back.   
‘I’m with Juvia,’ Natsu blurts out at the same time that Lucy says ‘Gray has been researching Deliora for years, it would be insane not to let him help,’  
‘I also think that Gray should be on the task force,’ Erza adds quietly. Laxus looks round at them all appraisingly.   
‘Okay. Gray you and Juvia are going to do all the intel stuff here whilst Natsu and Lucy do the fieldwork, is that a fair deal?’  
Gray nods swiftly, ‘Thank you sir,’ he says quietly and sits back down.   
‘Thank you Natsu,’ he mutters,  
‘S’alright,’ Natsu replies ‘I know you would do it for me,’

An hour later Natsu and Lucy are standing in the mortuary looking down at the frozen bodies with a grim sort of fascination.   
‘Pretty cool, huh Heartfilia,’ Natsu grins ‘D’ya get it? Cool ‘cause they’re frozen?’  
‘Don’t call me Heartfilia,’ she shoots back, busily noting down figures from the reports.   
‘Why don’t you like being called Heartfilia?’ Natsu asks curiously, Lucy sighs, running a hand through her hair and Natsu swallows an urge to brush the stray hairs of her forehead.   
‘It’s my father’s name and I don’t really want to be associated or reminded of him,’ she says tightly, gripping her notebook with white knuckles.   
‘Oh,’ says Natsu, feeling kinda bad about all the times he called her that to annoy her, ‘Sorry,’   
‘S’alright,’ Lucy responds ‘Just don’t do it again,’ 

On the drive to one of the warehouses Natsu stops the car to grab some coffee and brings her back a vanilla latte as a sort of peace offering. When she shoots him a smile over the rim of her cup he pretends that his stomach doesn’t do a loop the loop and concentrates on the road. 

‘Ugh this place stinks,’ is the first thing that Lucy says when they enter the crime scene, but she still goes straight over to the spot where the bodies were stacked up. Natsu has to stifle a laugh at the sight of her in her pale pink heels, black pencil skirt, frilly white blouse and pale pink blazer with her hair now pulled back in a neat chignon crouching down in the dust looking like a very lost model meant to be at some sort of audition.   
‘Stop sniggering Dragneel and come and help me,’ she calls over her shoulder and Natsu smiles. They go over the warehouse with a fine-toothed comb but it’s spotless, no prints or tracks.

Lucy spends the drive back to the station complaining about how difficult it will be to get the gross smell out of her clothes and Natsu can’t help but smile at her antics which only gets her more riled up.   
‘Honestly Natsu, I’m sure you aren’t happy about smelling like a fishmonger’s’ she says shrilly. Natsu suddenly sits bolt upright,   
‘That’s right Lucy!’ he cries ‘Fish!’  
Lucy raises an eyebrow ‘This is a legitimate issue, don’t mock me,’  
Natsu pulls the car over and turns to Lucy excitement dancing in his eyes,   
‘It stinks like fish because the bodies were frozen in one of those warehouses by the docks!’   
Lucy stares at him for a moment before letting out a shrill squeal of joy and throwing her arms around him,   
‘Natsu you’re a genius!’ She cries exuberantly, Natsu laughs  
‘Told ya so!’  
Lucy pulls away from him, cheeks pink.  
‘I’m still going to beat you though,’ she says defensively,   
‘Yeah right,’ Natsu replies dismissively before jumping out of the car and jogging into the station, Lucy close behind. 

Erza is thrilled with their work and Juvia quickly pulls up a list of warehouses by the docks that are used to store fish. There is one that is pretty much equidistant from all of the warehouses that were used. Gray goes a funny greenish colour when he hears that they think that the victims were frozen alive in fish storage containers but he continues to work. Natsu thinks that Juvia’s hand around his may have helped a little but he also thinks that it’s probably the wrong moment to mention that out loud. 

‘Going in there now may spook them,’ Erza says thoughtfully and Lucy hums in agreement,   
‘You could stake it out,’ Juvia offers,  
‘Sounds good to me, Lucy and I can do it,’ Natsu says instantly then tries not to blush when Lucy gives him a confused look. He can almost feel Cana’s knowing stare on his back.  
‘Since when were you eager to spend time with me?’ Lucy asks suspiciously, Natsu shrugs  
‘I just want to solve the case, it’s got nothing to do with you,’  
Erza claps her hands drawing their attention like little kids,  
‘That sound like an excellent plan to me, Juvia can you see any where that would be a good spot?’  
Juvia’s hands fly across the keyboard and less than a minute later she looks up, eyes bright.  
‘There is an old motel opposite the warehouse, it says here that it has been closed for 4 years,’  
Erza smiles approvingly, ‘Lucy, Natsu, kit up,’

Just as Natsu slams his locker door shut, ready to go and grab his car, Gray taps him on the shoulder.   
‘Hey, uh, Natsu,’ Gray says slowly ‘Thanks for y’know helping out with the case,’  
Natsu smiles and claps the taller man on the shoulder,   
‘Don’t worry about it man, we’re gonna put this prick behind bars any day now,’  
Gray nods stiffly and moves out of Natsu’s way so that he can get out,  
‘Good luck,’ he says quietly and Natsu gives him a smile and a thumbs up. 

Hours later Natsu and Lucy are sat in a crumbling motel eating fries and squinting at laptop screens. Lucy has already set up 4 tiny security cameras in the area so all that remains to be done is watching and waiting. Natsu jiggles his leg up and down, he hates stakeouts more than anything, he’d much rather go in guns blazing in.   
‘Stop fidgeting,’ Lucy says sharply and Natsu sighs loudly in exaggerated annoyance but stops anyway.   
‘Thank you,’ Lucy says primly, then pulls out some files and begins filling out paperwork. Natsu makes a face, pulls out his phone and opens Temple Run. Time passes strangely during stakeouts, often every second feels like a minute but sometimes it rushes away from you before you can grasp it. Suddenly Natsu looks up only to realise that the room is now completely dark, lit only by the screen of Lucy’s laptop which is still playing the security feeds. He stands up and stretches.  
‘Have we got anything else to eat?’ he asks sleepily,   
‘Nothing you can eat now, we need to ration out our food,’ Lucy replies without looking up. Natsu groans, ‘Ugh, why do you care so much about organisation?’  
Lucy turns to him but because of the lighting Natsu can’t see her expression. He assumes it’s angry.   
‘Being organised is important! Would you rather go hungry tomorrow?’  
Natsu glowers at her ‘I can always get more food tomorrow!’ He snaps back. Lucy stands up and puts her hands on her hips.   
‘No you can’t! This is a stakeout!’   
‘I know that!’ Natsu yells, anger rolling in his stomach in the absence of food ‘You don’t need to treat me like I’m stupid!’  
‘Well maybe I do!’ Lucy says shrilly ‘You can’t do paperwork and you mess up every case! I wish I didn’t have to work with you!’  
Natsu steps back, his head feels dizzy, ‘If you hate me that much then I’ll make it easier for you and just leave.’  
He grabs his gun, slipping it onto his belt and swings his rucksack over his shoulder then storms out of the room. Behind him he thinks he hears Lucy gasp but he’s too angry to care. Once he’s outside the cool night air is a blessing and he watches his breath fog up, remembering Gildarts on that bench so many years ago. It is moments like this when he misses Gildarts most, when everything is quiet except for his thoughts. They still talk nearly every day via text or email but it just isn’t the same. Natsu leans back against the wall his mind replaying Lucy’s words over and over again.   
I wish I didn’t have to work with you  
He squeezes his eyes shut and tries to block out everything but her words keep hitting him again and again, like bullets, ripping holes through him and making it harder and harder to remain upright. 

A noise to his left causes him to snap his eyes wide open. A man is standing there unloading massive crates onto the ground from a white van whilst another two people carry them into the fish storage warehouse. Natsu’s heart stops. This is his chance, this has to be Deliora’s workers. He waits until all the crates have been unloaded and the workers are carrying them in, then he sneaks forward and climbs into the back of the truck. There are a few burlap sacks and a tarpaulin that he hides under, they stick of something rotten and putrid but Natsu can’t afford to be picky. He imagines how Lucy would react to these stinking bits of cloth but then pushes the image of her face out of his mind, anger clouding his thoughts once more. Ten minutes later the engine roars to life and the van begins to move. Natsu checks his phone, there are 13 missed calls and 8 texts from Lucy. He turns off the phone without reading them. 

The journey to Deliora’s HQ is about 40 minutes long, and Natsu spends that time going over plans in his head, he is half tempted to text Gray but then decides that it’s probably too dangerous. When the van finally grinds to a halt Natsu’s legs are beginning to cramp and his mouth is dry as a bone, he waits another 5 minutes until he is sure that the coast is clear then slips out of the van. He finds himself outside some sort of factory, but it’s hard to tell in the dark. Natsu looks around for any sign of movement but all he can see is the shadowy building in front of him. The moon has been obscured by a thick blanket of cloud and there is a stillness to the air that makes the hair on the back of Natsu’s neck stand up.   
‘What do we have here then boys?’ a gravelly voice says from within the darkness. Natsu’s hand jumps to his gun but someone tackles him to the ground. There is a click and massive lights on top of the surrounding wall shine down on him. He squints up at the figure in front of him and gulps.   
‘Deliora,’ he spits and the man chuckles,   
‘That’s me, who are you boyyo?’   
Natsu growls at him from his position on the ground. Deliora laughs again, the sound bouncing off the walls,   
‘Don’t worry I know who you are, Mr Natsu Dragneel,’  
‘How do you know my name?’ Natsu asks angrily,  
‘Well you see,’ Deliora begins as if telling a story to a very small child ‘I’ve been keeping tabs on a little boy named Gray Fullbuster,’  
Natsu’s stomach is suddenly filled with icy fear,   
‘And I noticed that he had made a rather firm friend in you, Mr Dragneel,’ Deliora continues ‘and I thought to myself doesn’t that kid look kind familiar? Then I realised that you were the brother of an old friend of mine, Zeref,’  
‘Zeref is dead,’ Natsu spits ‘he died in a fire years ago,’  
Deliora chuckles mockingly, ‘Oh my dear boy, of course he didn’t, he was the one that started that fire and escaped to Crocus,’  
The whole world seems to turn upside down,   
‘What?’ Natsu demands and Deliora laughs again,   
‘Yes he’s running a rather successful mafia group up there that I believe your old friend Gildarts is looking into.’  
Natsu snarls and fights desperately against the person holding him but it’s no use. His face is shoved down into the gravel and his hands bound tightly behind his back.   
‘I think I have a perfect solution to this little problem,’ Deliora says slowly, as if relishing every syllable, ‘Let’s burn our little friend here, I feel like spicing things up,’

Everything in Natsu’s body seems to contract with fear, ice burning through his veins.   
‘Please, no, you can’t!’ he gasps, but no one seems to be listening. His body is hauled up and thrown back into the van where he lands in the pile of manky sacks once more. More sacks are thrown in and Natsu tries to wriggle away from them but he’s tied up too tightly to move properly. There is a click of a lighter and he screams, memories invading his head. A fearsome heat builds up around him, crackling in a way that almost sounds like gun shots. Thick black smoke fills the small space,clawing down his throat and making his eyes sting . 

Suddenly Natsu is ten again, trapped in a burning building listening to the screams of his father.  
‘Dad!’ He screams, the smoke making his voice come out raspy, ‘Help me! Please help me!’  
His clothes are on fire now. He can feel pain, white hot, snaking round his legs. The acrid scent of burning plastic fills his nostrils as the police badge at his waist twists and warps. He can’t breath. The smoke is clogging his throat and nose and mouth. He can’t breath. He can’t think. All he can feel is pain. Natsu Dragneel closes his eyes and falls unconscious.

‘Natsu! Natsu!’ Someone calls, their voice loud and impatient. Natsu frowns, this is not how he imagine the after life to be.   
‘Whuzz goin on?’ He rasps, mouth dry from lack of use. The light is harsh and hurts his eyes so he squeezes them shut.   
‘Natsu I was so worried!’ Lucy says, and she sounds oddly like she’s about to cry.  
‘Huh?’ Natsu says ‘Why?’  
Lucy smacks him, ‘You ran off and hid in a van belonging to a well known mafia boss!’   
‘Oh yeah,’ Natsu says distantly, he can remember it all happening but it feels weirdly far away, like he watched it on TV rather than actually experienced it.   
‘Where am I?’ he asks squinting up at the bright lights.   
‘The hospital,’ Lucy replies ‘You nearly died in the fire,’  
Oh yeah, the fire Natsu thinks absently. He opens his eyes properly, blinking to get them used to the light, and sees Lucy’s tired looking face at his bedside.   
‘Thankfully Lucy saw you get in the van on the security cams and was able to track your phone,’ Erza says sternly from his other side ‘Don’t you ever think about running off like that again!’   
She envelops him in a swift hug then marches out of the room.  
Natsu groans, pain pushing through the haze of drugs. 

‘Natsu,’ Lucy begins, her voice oddly quiet ‘I’m so sorry about what I said, it wasn’t true, you’re intelligent and a damn good cop. I’m lucky to be able to work with you.’  
‘Don’t worry about it Luce,’ Natsu says, pulling himself upright into a sitting position ‘ I was kinda acting like an idiot,’  
‘But that didn’t make it okay for me to be so mean,’ Lucy replies, tears sparkling in her eyes ‘and then you went off and nearly got yourself killed!’   
She dissolves into tears, frantically wiping her eyes with her fists like a small child. Natsu leans over and wraps her in a gentle hug,   
‘Don’t worry about it Luce, we still caught the bad guys right?’  
‘Yep,’ her voice is still quiet ‘I called for backup and we arrived just as they were shoving you back into the van. Deliora is behind bars for good now.’  
‘Lucy?’ Natsu asks sleepily, still hugging Lucy,  
‘Yeah?’ she replies  
‘How many drugs am I on?’   
Lucy laughs, ‘A lot,’  
‘Mmmkay,’ Natsu says ‘I’ll kiss you when I’m normal again,’  
He’s asleep before she can even reply. 

The road to recovery is hard, he has to go through multiple skin graft surgeries to fix the burned skin all down his legs and arms. There is a permanent scar down the side of his face and that makes him look like he was in a really tough fight (well that’s what Natsu’s going to tell people). 

The doctors tell him that he was only in there for less than a minute, but when you’re in extreme pain your perception of time warps. They also inform him that he is a very lucky man to be able to survive all of this. 

Erza sends a hairdresser into the hospital to sort out his burned locks, he ends up with much shorter hair than before and an undercut at the sides where the hair was nearly all singed off. He doesn’t mind too much, hair is hair and it’ll grow back but when Lucy sees him her cheeks glow bright pink and she has to leave the room for a few minutes, Natsu isn’t sure if it’s out of disgust or sadness or even something else.  
Gildarts visits and give Natsu a long lecture about safety, nearly crushing him with several hugs. They talk about the Zeref mafia case, Gildarts says that he’s hoping to get lots of information about it from Deliora. When the older man has to leave he promises to visit soon, but only if Natsu keeps himself safe.  
Juvia and Gray visit hand in hand, Juvia gives him a batch of homemade cookies, Gray grips him in a tight hug and whispers a thank you in his ear. Behind them comes Cana holding a sack bursting with jewels that she had just won from the Gray and Juvia bet. She wishes Natsu well and offers him a beer then a very scandalised looking nurse ushers her out quickly.  
Erza visits once or twice with stacks of paperwork for him to look at and Laxus gives him a terse thank you and tells him that when he returns to work he will be awarded a medal for his service. The person who visit the most is Lucy. Together they do dorky jigsaw puzzles, watch shitty day time TV and sometimes Lucy reads aloud from books that she thinks Natsu will like. Together they make it through the first Harry Potter book and Lucy promises to lend him the rest. Natsu tells her that she’s a real life Hermione Granger, and decides that he can be Ron, which for some reason makes Lucy blush bright pink. 

When Natsu’s first day back rolls around he’s excited, he knows that they’re planning a surprise party for him because Lucy can’t keep a secret to save her life, but it;s been killing him to sit in the hospital and do nothing. When he walks into the precinct everyone cheers and he grins cheekily at them all.   
‘Well it’s about time Magnolia’s best cop got back to work,’ he calls and Gray snorts loudly. 

Lucy beams at him from where she’s standing holding a massive cake that has ‘Welcome back Natsu’ iced across it.   
Cana shouts ‘Just snog already!’ and Lucy entire face goes crimson which Natsu finds surprisingly adorable.  
Someone starts blasting Christmas carols from a speaker and Natsu realises that he has been in hospital for nearly 2 months now so it’s mid-December. Everyone makes a beeline for the cake which Lucy begins to cut into precisely equal slices. Cana leaps onto a desk and starts pretending to be Mariah Carey and although Erza tries to chastise her eventually the red head jumps up too and they start dancing the Charleston together, hideously out of time with the music. 

Cake in hand Natsu stares round at his colleagues and thinks about how lucky he is to work with these brilliant, mad people. Someone taps at his elbow and he looks round to see Lucy smiling shyly.   
‘Hey,’ he says awkwardly,   
‘Hello,’ she replies then holds out a squashy package wrapped in pink paper, ‘I know it’s not the same but..’  
Natsu pays her no attention and rips away the packaging to reveal..  
‘My scarf!’ He breathes, ‘I thought it all burned?’  
Lucy smiles at him, abashed, ‘Most of it did, so I tried to repair it, sorry if you don’t like it,’   
Natsu hugs her tightly, ‘I love it!’   
He loops it round his neck, Lucy has carefully stitched new pieces of fabric into it so it looks almost scaley with the new and old fabrics interlocking so tightly. Lucy looks down at her feet when she speaks again,  
‘So, you know what you said to me in the hospital when you woke up?’  
Natsu frowns trying to scour his drug hazed memories.  
Lucy bites her lip,   
‘Well, I’d be okay with it, if you are still okay with that,’  
Natsu widens his eyes as what she is trying to say finally dawns on him. Lucy looks up and he follows her gaze,   
‘Mistletoe, huh,’ he says then smiles cheekily at Lucy and captures her mouth in a kiss.   
He can vaguely hear screaming behind him, presumably Cana, but all he can focus on is Lucy’s lips under his and the explosions of happiness in his head. 

When they break for air he leans his forehead against hers and smiles gently, she smiles back. 

The moment is broken by Juvia screaming, ‘Pay up Cana! Juvia wins!’ 

Lucy laughs and leans forward to kiss Natsu again.   
‘Merry Christmas Natsu,’ she whispers.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Please let me know what would make this better! Thank you!
> 
> Follow me on tumblr: http://roar-of-the-fire-dragon.tumblr.com/
> 
> Thank you for reading!


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